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From: bb on: Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:28 pm
Song of the Day: MSV and Jolly Abraham- Part III.
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/954.html
- Saravanan writes:
MSV and Jolly Abraham- Part 3
Progressing to 1979, we find Jolly Abraham singing for Shankar-Ganesh, and the song was ‘paalukku aadai suvaiyaagum’, a duet with Vani Jairam for the movie ‘raajrajEswari’. The same year, HMV released a record of Tamil Baila songs sung by Jolly Abraham. The songs were written by Udayanan and set to tune by Ben Viswesh. I recall songs from the album such as ‘mElE paar vaanam’, ‘meesa muLaichchaa’, ‘vaadi raajaathi’ and ‘kalyaaNa aasai’ finding frequent airtime. Besides this, Jolly’s version of ‘chinnna maamiyE’ was also popular at the time.
Coming to Jolly’s songs for MSV that year, we find Malayalam collaborations such as ‘aalinkombathu’ (iniyun kaaNaam), ‘allah allah’ and ‘padachontE kaiyilE’ (indradhanus) and ‘sankhumukham kadappurathoru’ (pathivritha).
In Tamil, we find that Jolly got to render 3 songs for MSV in 1979. The first of these was ‘malairaaNi mundhanai’ from orE vaanam orE bhoomi. We had dwelt at length on this movie when the song ‘vaLamaana bhoomiyil’ was featured as SOTD. See here:
http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3543
The song ‘malairaaNi mundhanai’ is sung by Vani Jairam, with Jolly providing the humming support. The sequence shows Nurse Lakshmi (K.R. Vijaya) singing out of awe and joy at the sight of the Niagara falls, while Doctor Joe (American actor Joe Waddington) who encourages her to sing, sings along with her, perceiving her excitement with indulgence, and yes, love.
Listen to ‘malairaaNi mundhanai’ from orE vaanam orE bhoomi (1979/Geo Movie Productions)
Sung by Jolly Abraham & Vani Jairam
Lyrics by Kannadasan
Music by M.S. Viswanathan
Various poets have waxed eloquent on the wonders of the Niagara Falls James K. Liston in his ‘Niagara Falls- A Poem’, equates the falls to a divine power and exclaims, ‘How long has tuned this mystic minstrelsy? When did thy swift but solemn march begin? When wast thou first heaved o’er those heights sublime-that fringe, with green, Ontario’s mantle blue?’’ Henry Austin in his ‘Niagara’ pays his obeisance thus, ‘In all the lightness of thy moving grace; in all the whiteness of thy soaring spray; in all the brightness of thy might!’ J.S. Buckingham in his ‘To Niagara’ gushes, ‘Hail! Sovereign of the world of floods- whose majesty and might first dazzles, then enraptures, then o'erawes the aching sight!’ And Henry Howard Brownell in his ‘Niagara’ queries, ‘Whence come ye, O wild waters? By what scenes of majesty and beauty have ye flowed?’
But our mighty bard, of course, is in a league of his own. See how he interprets with imaginative flourishes the thoughts of a woman who is awestruck at the first glimpse of the mighty torrents; the poetry just tumbles from his pen…
malai raaNi mundhanai sariya sariya
maNmaadha vaNNa madi viriya viriya
iLankaatRu maarbagathai thazhuva thazhuva
eNNugindREn kavidhai ondru ezutha ezutha
And in his ode to the cascade, Kannadasan goes on to wonders thus at the origin of the falls- he philosophizes that the air that escapes through the sighs of a lover condenses into water as the tears of his beloved, and even as the clouds gather to console and comfort, the cataract pours…
kaadhal vitta moochu ondRu perugi perugi kaatRaagi
kaadhaliyin kaNNeerthaan urugi urugi neeraagi
mEgamennum thOzhi vandhu kaniya kaniya mozhi pEsi
thaayai vittu Odichchellum peNNai polE nazhuvi
mEdai vittu aadi thuLLum menmai thaanO aruvi..
How imaginative of him to see the rushing waters as a petulant child running away from her mother!
Like poets over centuries, composers too have been spellbound by the majestic sight of the Niagara. The violin piece ‘Niagara’ by Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, German composer Friedrich Wilhelm Tschirch’s concert overture ‘Am Niagara’ and Polish-French pianist Henri Kowalski’s ‘Aux bords du Niagara’ are profound instances of 19th century works inspired by the mighty falls. Legend has it that Dvořák stood transfixed at his first sight of the Niagara and exclaimed, 'Lord God, this will become a symphony in b minor!’ Nathaniel Dett’s ‘Cave of the Winds’, Harvey Gaul's ‘The Masque of Niagara’ and Joseph Roff's suite ‘Niagara’ are musical works of the 20th century that have the thundering falls as their theme.
Our Mellisai Mannar earns a place of pride in this pantheon. I always wonder at the man’s creative prowess- his compositions have in turn beckoned exotic Europe in sivandhamaN, summoned the mystique of the Orient in ulagam sutRum vaaliban, and now serenade the majesty of the Niagara in the SOTD. I just cannot fathom how, for the songs must have been composed much before they were filmed…. How much imagination and thought must have gone into every note….Listen to the magnificent prelude… the first glimpse of the waterfalls in their glory…. Jolly Abraham’s opening humming is like the first wisp of the spray that lands on the hands of the delighted tourist ….Vani arrives bedecked with the imperial majesty of the tune that matches the splendour of the falls…Observe the structure of the charaNam…how the lines assume a graceful ascent and then tumble down much like the cascades they speak of….Cascades of sumptuous music…
* * * *
The next song that Jolly Abraham sang for MSV in 1979 is a great favourite of mine- ‘aasaiyuLLa maapiLLaikku’ from needhikku mun neeyaa naana. Produced by K.S. Kutralingam and directed by Durai, the movie starred Vijayakumar, Srikanth, Latha and Aparna.
Listen to ‘aasaiyuLLa maapiLLaikku’ from needhikku mun neeyaa naana (1979/ Sri Gomathisankar Films)
Sung by Jolly Abraham & P. Suseela
Lyrics by Selvabharathi
Music by M.S. Viswanathan
The song opens with the man and woman shivering, unable to bear the cold. I assume they are trapped in a place that is open to icy blasts of wind; else they have sought shelter from the downpour outside. Inborn inhibitions drive them to huddle separately, with some partition erected between them. However, the wet weather makes them seek warmth, and the roaring fire that they have lit evokes unbearable physical longings in them… she seems bolder of the two, and takes the initiative to express her feelings and questions the need for the partition between them…. He understands but wants to be sure before he proceeds further… he sings of all that he dreams…and asks if his she would do all that he dreams of… her response is couched in affirmative analogies…the cautious man that he is, he needs further convincing … she loses her patience then and chides him for prolonging the debate denying them both the pleasure that they crave for… Suseela and Jolly Abraham enact this scorching sequence with fetching panache…
The song was often aired at that time, and then like many of its contemporaries was soon forgotten. A delight such as this surely deserves a place in posterity.
Tags: M.S.Viswanathan
http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7585
